University of Virginia law professor Douglas Laycock – who specializes in religious liberty – said that, from a legal perspective, the Islamic Center may have been better off forcing the county to make a decision on the plan for a new mosque. In Culpeper County, for instance, the Board of Supervisors initially denied a zoning permit for a mosque, but reversed that decision earlier this year to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit. “[If] the county says you cannot build a mosque, that’s plainly a burden on the exercise of religion,” Laycock explained.